The Gist: The Tigers and Twins played a game for the ages and both teams followed the respective scripts of the past three weeks. For the Tigers, that meant squandering countless opportunities and watching a division lead evaporate. For the Twins: everything going their way. Rick Porcello was awesome, Miguel Cabrera showed up for the first part of the game and Fernando Rodney, while taking the loss, pitched almost brilliantly in what was assuredly his last Tigers performance.

The Quote: “No matter what we did, it seems like it wasn’t meant to be. This is the best game, by far, that I’ve ever played in no matter the outcome.” — Brandon Inge

The Stat: 1 – The go-ahead run scored by Don Kelly in the 10th. Oh, how I wish it would’ve held up…for his sake.

Up Next: Spring Training, Lakeland, Fla., February 2010

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The Score: Tigers 5 – White Sox 3

The Gist: You couldn’t ask for more than Justin Verlander delivered on Sunday afternoon in the Tigers’ home finale of the as-yet-undecided 2009 season. Ryan Raburn went yard twice and the resurrected Magglio Ordonez went 4 for 4 to power most of the offense. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Tigers game without a wasted inning with a starter, this time John Danks, on the ropes. A win is a win, though this win would’ve been better on, say, Thursday.

The Quote: “I wasn’t sure right away I was going to get there.” – Curtis Granderson, referring to either his diving catch in the eighth which saved the game from looming disaster OR the Tuesday playoff game in Minnesota.

The Stat: 12 and 13 – The Tigers’ record this year on Tuesdays

Magic Digit: 1

Up Next: Tigers @ Twins – Tuesday, 5 p.m. ET on TBS

Rick Porcello (14-9. 4.04 ERA) vs. Scott Baker (15-9, 4.36)

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The Score: White Sox 5 – Tigers 1

The Gist: With only a chance to avoid humiliation and the record books, the 2003 Tigers played with fire and grit in the last series of the year and managed to not lose 120 games. With a chance to advance closer to a division title, the 2009 Tigers played a listless brand of baseball in the penultimate game of the season — and the results, again, showed it. Pathetic.

The Quote: “They got to play more relaxed.” – Freddy Garcia, who ate the Tigers’ lunch on Saturday.

The Stat: 17 – The number of consecutive scoreless innings for the Tigers spanning from the ninth inning of Thursday’s loss through the seventh inning of Saturday night’s game.

Tragic Number: 2

Up Next: White Sox @ Tigers

Justin Verlander (18-9, 3.45 ERA) vs. John Danks (13-10, 3.69)

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The Score: White Sox 8 – Tigers 0

The Gist: The Tigers didn’t show up to play Friday night, but that didn’t stop the White Sox’ Jake Peavy from dicing them like ripe tomatoes. Three hits for Detroit. Three. And Edwin Jackson was awful.

The View: One of my top-three movies of all time is Midnight Run. In one scene, bounty hunter Robert DeNiro complains of an ulcer. In his custody is Charles Grodin who tells DeNiro that he has an ulcer “because you have two forms of expression: silence and rage.” That’s how I feel about the Tigers…but without the ulcers.

The Quote: “You’re not going to get any help. Don’t expect it. If you want to win the division, you have to win two games.” – Jim Leyland via MLB.com’s Jason Beck on Twitter.

The Stat: 0 – As in 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position.

Magic Number: 2

Up Next: White Sox @ Tigers

Alfredo Figaro (2-1, 5.73 ERA) vs. Freddy Garcia (2-4, 4.78)

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The Score: Twins 8 – Tigers 3

The Gist: Wasted opportunities. Sure, the usual ones — stranded runners, untimely hitting — but also new and exciting storylines. Like, four errors by the Twins, a bizarrely mediocre Joe Nathan and…oh, what’s the difference? Nate Robertson pitched well enough to not lose but not much better. Home plate umpire Angel Hernandez overreacted again, issued warnings, ejected Jim Leyland, Jeremy Bonderman and Gerald Laird, watched benches clear. You know, the usual playoff atmosphere.

The Quote: “Really, what is there to say?” — Yours truly.

The Stat: 0 – As in 0 for 5 for Ramon Santiago on the day, suggesting that perhaps Leyland chose the wrong day to give Placido Polanco a breather. Santiago was 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position, including a bases-loaded chance in the fourth when he popped out to the catcher. The catcher.

Magic/Tragic Number: 2 – Still two.

Up Next: White Sox @ Tigers

Edwin Jackson (13-8, 3.36 ERA) vs. Jake Peavy (8-6, 3.75; 2-0 with the Sox)

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The Score: Tigers 7 – Twins 2

The Gist: Eddie Bonine walked the tightrope in the first inning but was just giving the Twins a taste of Tuesday afternoon’s medicine: a starting pitcher teetering on a horrific start only to rebound and stifle the opponent the rest of the way. Tuesday’s Nick Blackburn is Wednesday’s Eddie Bonine. He allowed seven hits in the first two innings but none over his next three to earn his first win of the year. Magglio Ordonez’s remarkably timed resurgence continues to amaze: three more RBI on a smoked liner to left center. We could gush all night long about a much-needed semi-laugher.

The Quote: “You need everyone on your team to step up right now, and that’s what happened tonight.” — Jim Leyland

The Stat: .300 - Ordonez’s batting average when he came to the plate in the seventh. Who’da thunk it? Certainly not Lynn Henning.

The Stat II: 4 – The number of wins the Tigers need to reach my pre-season prediction of 89 wins. Can they run the table?

Up Next: Twins @ Tigers — 1:05 p.m. ET

Nate Robertson (2-2, 5.56 ERA) vs. Scott Baker (14-9, 4.48)

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The Score: Tigers 6 – Twins 5

The Gist: Justin Verlander looked like a man on a mission but despite his terrific outing the Twins kept coming. And if it weren’t for Curtis Granderson’s homer in the eighth, the Tigers would’ve come to bat in the ninth inning of a tied game for the second time in 12 hours. Miguel Cabrera launched a bomb to open the scoring in the third and Magglio Ordonez had a key double to left — to left — later in the inning to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

The View: The Tigers are fortunate to go to bed with a two-game lead. If Joe Crede were healthy and playing for the Twins, I’m not sure that would be the case. Nevertheless, savor the split.

The Quote: “I don’t have anybody better than you.” — Jim Leyland to Verlander during an eighth-inning visit to the mound.

The Stat: 0 – The chances we’ll see Wilkin Ramirez on the field again this season.

Magic Number: 4

Up Next: Twins @ Tigers

Eddie Bonine (0-1, 4.60 ERA) vs. Carl Pavano (13-11, 4.86)

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The Score: Twins 3 – Tigers 2, 10 innings

The Gist: Stop us if you heard this one: The Tigers had plenty of baserunners but a dearth of clutch hitters. Rick Porcello was lights-out for the Tigers over six-and-a-third innings but his offense made Nick Blackburn look like Bert Blyleven. And just like that, the Tigers’ lead is one game. Blackburn retired 12 Tigers in a row at one point as the offense hibernated.

The View: All year long I’ve been wanting to say that this team has no heart. But a team that spends the better part of four months in first place deserves the benefit of the doubt. Until now. Who cares that they rallied back from a 5-0 deficit against the White Sox three days ago? The Tigers had a chance today to make a statement — about the series and the season — and they did: “We can’t hit.”

The Quote: “[crickets]“ — The Tigers’ offense.

The Stat: 100 – Joe Nathan’s save percentage against the Tigers in 30 attempts.

Up Next: Twins @ Tigers – Game 2 Tonight – 7 p.m. ET

Justin Verlander (17-9, 3.41 ERA) vs. Brian Duensing (5-1, 3.33)

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The Score: White Sox 8 – Tigers 4

The Gist: Curtis Granderson hit the second pitch of the game out of the park and…game over. Edwin Jackson got his usual pittance of support but unlike most of the year he allowed quite a few runs himself. Then the offense went back to sleep, apparently assuming that some of the 20 hits from Saturday night could be used kind of like, I don’t know, rollover minutes.

The View: As Ian says, nothing’s been easy all year for this Tigers team, so why start now? Still, I mean, you know, it’s just, couldn’t they…ah, forget it.

The Quote: “Today was pretty much our offense, which has been mind-boggling.” – Jim Leyland

The Stat: 2 – The number of Brandon Inge errors in this series.

Magic Number: 6

Up Next: Twins @ Tigers

Rick Porcello (14-9, 4.14 ERA) vs. Nick Blackburn (11-11, 4.18)

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The Score: Tigers 12 – White Sox 5

The Gist: The Tigers swatted 20 hits — four from Miguel Cabrera, and three each from Curtis Granderson and, of course, Placido Polanco — scoring 12 runs after being down 5-0 in the fourth. Cabrera also had a homer and four RBI, giving him 100 for the year.

The View: For a while it looked like two pitchers falling into old (and opposing) habits: Freddy Garcia looked like the front-line starter he was from 2001-05 and Nate Robertson, well, looked like more like ‘08 Nate: a bullpen mop-up guy. Ultimately, both guys cratered but Nate just left earlier in the game. Thankfully.

*The Quote: from Jim Leyland.

The Quote II: “And I’m going to make it clear. It’s a bunch of [expletive] out there watching football games like a piece of [expletive] with no pride the way they play the [expletive] game, and that’s embarrassing. If you don’t have pride to play this game and you don’t care about it, get another job because I know I’m going to be all over the stinking place when I talk about this.” — Ozzie Guillen, showing all class once again.

The Stat: 5 — The number of double plays turned by the Tigers.

Magic Number: 7

Up Next: Tigers @ White Sox

Edwin Jackson (13-7, 3.25 ERA) vs. Daniel Hudson (0-1. 3.38)

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The Score: White Sox 2 – Tigers 0

The Gist: Eddie Bonine should still be out for a nice post-game dinner with his teammates after 6.2 innings of two-hit pitching. Instead, he takes the loss in yet another disaster in Chicago.

But come on, didn’t you see this one coming?

Both teams were coming off the opposite end of sweeps, but you didn’t think it would be the Tigers that would keep their streak going, did you? This one was setting up as a disappointment from the last out of Thursday night’s game in Cleveland.

Oh, and Placido Polanco had another three-hit game, but none of the other 10 Tigers to bat could solve Jake Peavy.

The Quote: “Turn the page.” — Jim Leyland, either offering sage advice to his club (and fans?) or quoting a classic Bob Seger song. Maybe both.

The Stat: 2 – The number of days remaining before Tigers fans can enjoy six months of White Sox-free living. 0 – The accuracy of the original Stat. Driven by wishful thinking, I’d forgotten about next week’s series against the Sox in Detroit.

Magic Number: 8

Up Next: Tigers @ White Sox

Nate Robertson (2-2, 5.13 ERA) vs. Freddy Garcia (2-3, 4.01)

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The Score: Tigers 6 – Indians 5

The Gist: Justin Verlander struck out 11 over seven innings to give the Tigers a 6-5 win and a three-game sweep of the Indians. And Fernando Rodney tried to give it away. Well, not quite, but if you missed the game trust me when I say, you’ve seen it all before. Carlos Guillen led the offense with a 3-for-3 night, and six players chipped in an RBI each.

The Quote: “Me and him tend to differ a lot on opinion.” – Verlander giving a grammatically butchered response to Jim Leyland’s view that JV was often throwing and not pitching on Thursday night. Methinks Leyland wins this one.

The Stat: 6 (x 2) — With Thursday night’s win, the Tigers completed their second six-game winning streak of the Indians this season.

Magic Number: 8 with 10 games remaining.

Up Next: Tigers @ White Sox

Eddie Bonine (0-0, 5.96 ERA) vs. Jake Peavy (First start for the Sox; 7-6, 4.05 with the Padres)

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The Score: Tigers 11 – Indians 3

The Gist: Hey-yo! The Tigers showed no mercy on Justin Masterson, the Indians, Eric Wedge or the drum-beat guy. Instead, they dropped 11 runs on Cleveland — thanks to a pair of Carlos Guillen homers and a 440-foot missile from Miguel Cabrera — and Rick Porcello (14-9) was sturdy in five innings of work. Guillen finished with three hits and four other Tigers had two hits.

The Quote: “It’s good to have him back.” — Jim Leyland on Guillen.

The Stat: 1.80 — Porcello’s ERA in four starts against Cleveland this season.

Magic Number: 9

Up Next: Tigers @ Indians

Justin Verlander (16-9, 3.44 ERA) vs. Carlos Carrasco (0-2, 9.64)

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The Gist: Two things returned to form on Monday night in Cleveland: Edwin Jackson (13-7) pitching deep into the game holding the Indians at bay, and the Tigers’ offense oversleeping as it usually does when Jackson starts. Ryan Raburn flashed leather and lumber with a homer (number 14) and a key assist, nailing Matt LaPorta at the plate. Magglio Ordonez went 3 for 3 raising his September average to .417 — !!

The Quote: “We got a good effort from our starting pitcher. We were one base hit away from that being a different ballgame. We were one play early from that being a different ballgame.” — Indians Manager Eric Wedge, reminding Tigers fans what they feared most as the game stayed 1-0 for too long.

The Stat: 6 – The number of first-pitch strikes Jackson made through the first seven innings, according to MLB.com’s Jason Beck on Twitter.

Magic Number: 10

Up Next: Tigers @ Indians

Rick Porcello (13-9, 4.22 ERA) vs. Justin Masterson (4-8, 4.49 ERA)

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ESPN highlights available here.

The Score: Tigers 6 – Twins 2

The Gist: The Tigers showed the doubters among us (including yours truly) that they can win when it counts. Fungo Favorite Nate Robertson was outstanding over five innings of work, striking out six.

The Quote: “I guess we’ll have to take two out of three and now go on a long road trip.” – Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire

The Stat: 6 – The number of hits by Placido Polanco on Saturday and Sunday.

The Stat II: 83-113 – The Tigers’ all-time record at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

Up Next: Tigers @ Indians, Tuesday Night

Edwin Jackson (12-7, 3.37) vs LHP Aaron Laffey (7-6, 4.09)

Maybe that’s what plagues the 2009 Tigers. Except for the powerful lineup thing.

Other thoughts on the game:

• Don Kelly did not lose this game for the Tigers. The offense, yet again, is to blame. But you knew that.

• My local Fox affiliate aired the Dodgers-Giants game today so I listened to the entire game on MLB.com. If you didn’t listen, you missed Dan Dickerson’s call of the ball Kelly lost. I think Dickerson is terrific and the entire game he was warning listeners that games in the Metrodome tend to result in odd endings and comebacks.

  So when Kelly’s miscue was unfolding, Dickerson’s call embodied the “oh-dear-lord-he’s-lost-it-in-the-roof-and-the-Tigers-are-going-to-get-screwed-again” feeling of everyone listening back in Detroit. And he reported that the Twins lead was 3-2, and said it as if it was actually 30-2 — which it essentially was.

• How about that Gerald Laird? I don’t care if he hits .200 forever, keep nailing those runners.

• Edwin Jackson probably sat there watching Justin Verlander dominate with only a pair of runs and thought, “Welcome to my world.”

• I know the announcers have ads and promos they’re required to read on air, but Jim Price’s friendly reminder of Comerica Park suite availability for the Division Series is just asking for it. Need proof? Not long after he read the ad, it came: “(Orlando) Cabrera lifts a high fly ball to left…” Karma.

• I wonder if somewhere Gary Sheffield saw Kelly’s flub and said to anyone in earshot: “I’da caught that!” Here’s hoping.

Tomorrow’s game is the last one I ever have to watch the Tigers play in the Metrodome. Oh, sure, there might be a one-game playoff or something, but come on. Do you honestly think I’d subject myself to watching that game?

Photo gallery here.